Mind Control
by inker
Summary: Emma isn't acting like Emma (Sorry, I don't want to give away too much)
1. Where's our Emma?

**MIND CONTROL  
  
Disclaimer: This story is a fan creation and no copyright infringement is intended. I do not own any characters of Mutant X. All of the characters are the property of Tribune Entertainment Co.**

This is my first fan fic. I want to give the other authors kudos for inspiring me to write a story of my own after reading theirs.

* * *

Emma walked down the street, heading for the local donut shop. She'd promised Brennan and Jesse that she'd pick up a dozen donuts on her way in and was mentally kicking herself for agreeing because the line was almost out the door.

It seemed like forever but she finally got what she had come for. She exited the shop and made her way back to her car. But little did she know, someone was watching her. A man on the opposite side of the street, sitting in his car, watched her every move.

She got into her car, checked to see if the street was clear and then drove away. The man started his car and began to follow her.

A few blocks away, Emma could see that she was approaching a red light so she began to slow down. In doing so, she was suddenly hit from behind, causing her to swerve towards the right side of the road where she came to a stop.

She rubbed the back of her neck, as the impact caused a mild case of whiplash, and got out of the car. She walked towards the car that had hit her and saw that the driver wasn't getting out. As she got closer she saw him slumped over the wheel. "Sir? Sir, are you okay?" she asked as she tapped on his window.

The man moaned a little and eased back in his seat, becoming aware of his surroundings. He looked over at Emma and rolled down his window. In a flash, he reached out and grabbed her by the neck, pulling her closer to him. She felt a slight burn behind her right ear as he let her go. She stared blankly at him.

"Sorry about that Ms. DeLauro. It tends to sting a bit at first."

Emma blinked her eyes and slowly returned to normal, as if what had just happened didn't happen.

"We'll be in touch," the man said as he put the car in reverse, backing up a little. He put it in drive and sped away down the street.

Emma got back into her car and continued on her way to sanctuary.

When Emma got to sanctuary, she found Brennan and Jesse chatting in the hallway. "Hey! Where've you been?" Jesse asked as he reached out and took the box of donuts from her.

"The line was super long. YOU can go next time." She kept on walking and went to one of the rooms upstairs so she could begin her morning Yoga routine.

With her eyes closed she focused her mind on nothing but her breathing. But she soon found herself interrupted by a voice inside her head. "Hello, Emma," Eckhart's voice echoed in her head. He had total control of her mind and had her continue with her Yoga so if someone were to walk in it wouldn't appear as if something were wrong. "I see that you met my associate Mr. Berrington this morning. Charming fellow he is."

Continuing with her Yoga stretches she listened intently to what Eckhart had to say.

"I have a job for you, Emma. And I have picked you especially because I think you have what it takes to pull it off."

"What do you want me to do?" she asked as she stood up and began stretching some more.

Shalimar walked into the room. "Who are you talking to?" she asked as she leaded against the doorway.

Emma opened her eyes and looked at Shalimar. "Tell her you were trying a new Yoga technique," Eckhart told her.

"I was trying this new Yoga technique," Emma replied as she sat back down on the floor. "Did you want something?"

"Adam wanted you and I to go out to the old chemical plant to do some investigating, remember?"

"Sure. Give me five minutes."

Shalimar looked at Emma, shook her head, and left the room.

"Good girl. You obey very well. This is going to work out splendidly," Eckhart said.

"So what is it you want me to do?" she asked again.

"I want you to kill the members of your team one by one. But I want you to leave Adam for me."

"No problem," she said as she got up and walked out of the room to meet up with Shalimar, appearing as if what had just been asked of her didn't faze her.


	2. The attack

Emma and Shalimar reached their destination and made their way into the building. Emma scanned the area with a small, handheld device. "I'm getting a reading on the second floor, just above us."

They made their way up a set of stairs to the second floor. Shalimar walked in front of Emma as Emma continued scanning, hearing the machine beeping louder as they walked along. As Shalimar looked around, Emma looked at the rusted railing that lined the second floor hallway where they were standing. She walked over to Shalimar and stood in front of her as she looked at the small screen of her scanning device. She turned down the volume of the machine and then turned it all the way up so it beeped loudly. Pretending to be scared, she screamed and backed up into Shalimar, pushing her into the railing. The badly rusted railing soon gave way and allowed Shalimar to fall over the side towards the first floor.

Emma heard a crash from below and smiled. Turning around, she looked over the railing and saw that Shalimar had landed on a pile of cardboard boxes which broke her fall.

Emma swore to herself and then realized she had to play it up as an accident. "Shalimar!" she yelled as she made her way down to the first floor to where Shalimar was just getting to her feet. "Are you okay? I'm so sorry!"

Shalimar brushed off her leather jacket. "We ferals always land on our feet," she said jokingly.

"I'm sorry. The noise of the machine freaked me out. And I..."

Shalimar put up her hand. "No need to apologize, it's okay. I'm okay." She rubbed Emma's arm. "I'll go up there, you stay put down here. I'll be back in a few minutes."

Shalimar went back up to the second floor to carry out their mission while Emma stood with her arms folded across her chest. "Problems, Emma?" Eckhart said.

"No," she whispered, trying not to let Shalimar hear her in the echoic building.

"I should hope not. Please try not to be so careless next time."

Emma's eyes narrowed in frustration.

Shalimar returned downstairs with a small, black briefcase. "Got it! Let's go," she said as she carefully carried the briefcase.

When Emma and Shalimar returned back to sanctuary they handed the briefcase to Adam who took it from them as if he were handling a newborn baby. 

Rushing off to the lab, he set it down gently on the table. "You run into any problems out there?" he asked as he carefully opened the case.

Shalimar looked at Emma and then back at Adam. "No, no problems at all. Piece of cake."

Adam's eyes widened at the site of the briefcase's contents, four vials that contained some type of blue liquid. "I've got a lot of work to do with these so why don't you two go hang out for a while. Brennan and Jesse should be back later. We'll have a quick meeting when they return."

Both Shalimar and Emma nodded and left the lab.

"I'm gonna crash in my room for a little while and finish up this book that I've been trying to finish for about a month now." Shalimar walked down the hallway and then went upstairs to her room.

Emma waited for a few moments and then went off in the direction that Shalimar had just went in.

Shalimar laid on her bed, reading her book when suddenly the lights went out. She got up from the bed and started walking over to the light switch on the wall but was struck in the face with something, sending her to the floor on her back. She shook it off and attempted to get up but found someone on top of her, throwing numerous punches at her. She managed to block some of them and tossed the person off of her.

She got to the light switch and flipped it up but the lights remained off.

Just as she was about to attempt at going into feral mode, in order to see in the dark, something was sprayed in her eyes. It burned and hindered her mutant power.

Her attacker lunged at her and slammed her hard against the wall, her ribs ramming into the steel edge of the doorway trim.

More punches hit her face and then she felt a searing pain in the left side of her stomach. Dropping to her knees, she clutched her stomach, feeling warm blood flowing all over her hands. Then she fell to the floor.

Her attacker dragged her over to the closet and tossed her inside.

A few minutes passed and the light in Shalimar's room went back on. Emma soon appeared, towels in hand. She quickly began wiping Shalimar's blood from the floor.

Satisfied with her clean up, she turned out the light and left the room.

As Emma returned downstairs, she ran into Brennan and Jesse who had just returned. "Hey, Emma. You and Shalimar get those vials?" Jesse asked.

"Yeah. Adam's working on them right now."

"Where's Shalimar?" Brennan asked.

"She's um, I think she went home. She wasn't feeling so good after we came back."

"I hope she's okay," Jesse said.

"She'll be fine. I think it's just a head cold or something," Emma said. "Adam wants to meet with all of us so I guess I'll meet you guys in the conference room." 

Brennan pulled out his cell phone and dialed Shalimar's number. The line rang and rang but there was no answer. Her machine clicked on and Brennan left a message. "Hey, it's me. Just called to see if you were okay. Emma said you weren't feeling so hot. Anyway, call me later. Bye."

"She must be sleeping or something," Jesse said. "Come on, let's get to the meeting or else Adam will kill us if we're late."

Their meeting began and Adam quickly realized that Shalimar was not in attendence. "Where's Shalimar?" he asked as he turned to Emma.

"She said she wasn't feeling good and went home."

Adam seemed confused by her answer. "Okay. We'll have to update her later then." He shuffled some papers and then looked at each of the members of the team that sat before him. "Shalimar and Emma went on an important mission today to retrieve some stolen new mutant DNA samples. I got a tip this morning from one of my sources so I sent them out to get them. Luckily they didn't run into any problems."

"So I guess we can assume that Eckhart stole these samples?" Brennan suggested.

"Actually, no. They were stolen from an unknown person or persons. Judging by the tests I've run, they've been there for quite some time. Possibly a few years."

Adam continued to inform them of his recent discovery and Eckhart listened closely to what was being said, through Emma's implant.

After their meeting adjourned, the three new mutants gathered in the hallway.

"You guys want to grab something to eat?" Brennan asked Emma and Jesse.

"Yeah, I'm game," Jesse replied. "What about you, Emma?"

"I've actually got something to take care of first. I'll meet up with you."

"Cool. How about that great Chinese food place down on the corner of Crescent Street?" Brennan suggested.

"Sounds good to me," Jesse said as he and Brennan began to head out.

"Give me about a half hour and I'll meet you there," Emma said as she made her way upstairs.


	3. The discovery

After Brennan, Jesse and Emma finished dinner, they went out to the parking lot. Brennan pulled out his cell phone and began dialing.

"You calling Shalimar?" Jesse asked.

"Yeah. I'm a little worried about her." The phone rang and rang and then Shalimar's machine picked up. Brennan waited for the beep and then began his message. "Hey. Me again. Just calling to make sure you're okay. Umm, guess I'll talk to you later. Bye."

Jesse turned to Emma who was standing near them. "How sick was she this afternoon?"

Emma shrugged. "I dunno. She was fine one minute and not the next."

"You think she could have been exposed to something at that plant you were at?" Brennan asked.

Emma shrugged again. "Maybe. But wouldn't we have both become sick? I think she's just got the flu or something."

"Yeah, maybe you're right. I'll try her again in the morning." Brennan and Jesse climbed into Brennan's car. "See you tomorrow, Emma."

Emma waved to them as she walked over to her car. She started it up and watched as Brennan pulled out of the lot. Then she drove away.

Brennan drove along as Jesse attempted to talk to him. "Hello? Earth to Brennan," Jesse said as he snapped his fingers.

Brennan looked over at Jesse and then back on the road in front of him. "I'm sorry. My mind is just preoccupied is all."

"I know, I realize that considering I've just been talking to you for a good couple of minutes and you haven't heard a word I said."

"I'm sorry," Brennan said as he took a turn and then parked the car on the side of the street. Jesse looked out the window and realized where they were. Brennan opened the car door, "I'm just gonna run in and check on her. I'll be back in ten minutes, tops."

Jesse stayed in the car while Brennan when into the building and made his way up to Shalimar's apartment.

When he got to the door he knocked. There was no answer so he knocked again. "Shalimar? It's me, Brennan." He waited for a few moments and still there was no answer. He turned the doorknob and found it obviously locked so he knocked again. "Shalimar, open up." He put is ear to the door to see if he could hear something but he didn't.

Reaching into his jacket he pulled out a set of lock picking devices and picked the lock. Slowly he opened the door. "Shalimar?" He crept into the dark apartment, making his way toward a lamp on the end table by the sofa. But as he walked he slipped a little on something. He caught his balance and then got to the lamp and turned it on. He looked down at the floor and then knelt down to touch the dark puddles. Blood. "Shalimar!" he yelled with fear.

He followed the trail of blood that went into Shalimar's bedroom. As he neared her room he heard a soft moan. "Shalimar!" he yelled again. When he got into the room he found her on the floor covered in her own blood and barely conscious.

He knelt beside her, tears welling up in his eyes. "What happened? Who did this to you?" He looked her over and saw that the source of the blood was her stomach. He took his sweatshirt off and held it over her wound, applying pressure. She groaned in pain as he did so. "Shhhh, it's okay. You're going to be okay. I'm gonna get you some help."

"No you're not," a voice behind him said.

He whipped his head around and felt sudden pain as he was struck in the face. He shook it off and stood up, confronting Emma who was ready for a fight.

"What are you doing?" he said as he felt the side of his head, blood that began to trickle out from a small cut.

Emma lashed out towards him but he blocked her blows. She got in a few kicks to his knees and he stumbled to the ground. Waving his hands together he began to generate electricity. But just as he was about to toss a bolt towards Emma, she grabbed a vase full of flowers and hurled it at him. The water from the vase mixed with his electrical current and he began to go into shock, his body bouncing up and down in pain as the charge went through his body. He soon stopped and lay motionless on the floor next to Shalimar, who had passed out once again.

Emma shook her head. "Pathetic, don't you think Mason?"

"Mm, most definitely. Two down and one to go," he replied.

Emma turned around to leave and heard Jesse's voice as he entered the apartment. "Brennan? Shalimar? Where are you guys?"

She hid behind the bedroom door and waited for him to come into the room. 

Jesse got to the doorway, his eyes growing wide as he saw Brennan and Shalimar lying on the floor, Shalimar covered in blood. "Oh my God!" He stepped into the room and Emma lunged out at him, latching onto his back and clawing at his eyes.

He flipped her off of him and hurled her across the room, slamming her into the wall. He rubbed his eyes and then saw her charging at him. "Emma?" he said just as she tackled him to the ground. He grabbed her wrists and stopped her punches. "What are you doing? How did you get in here?"

"Shut up!" she screamed as struggled against his strong grip. 

She began using her mutant powers on him, trying to take over his mind but he fought against her. His body became very dense and she was unable to get through. "Stop it, Emma!" With a solid burst of energy he flipped her off of him and threw her against the wall again. Her head connected with the wall with a sickening crack, knocking her unconscious to the floor.

"Adam!" he half-yelled into his Comlink ring.

"Jesse? What's the matter?"

"I'm at Shalimar's apartment. Shalimar and Brennan are hurt." Jesse moved Brennan's sweatshirt away from Shalimar's wound, his lips curling at the sight of the blood. "Shalimar's been stabbed or shot. I can't really tell. She's lost a lot of blood. Brennan's unconscious. I'm not sure what happened to him."

"I'm on my way."

Jesse reached over and felt for Shalimar's pulse and found a very weak one. "Hang on, Shal." Then he checked Brennan's and found a weak one as well.

"Come on, guys. We're a team. You can't just leave us like that," he said to them with a tear in this eye.


	4. Adam to the rescue

Adam soon arrived and tried not to get emotional when seeing what he saw. He injected Shalimar with different medications and checked her pulse. "Her pulse is a little stronger. That will buy us time to get her back to sanctuary." He did the same for Brennan and felt his pulse quickening as well. He scooped Shalimar up, trying to be as gentle as possible. "I'm going to get her into the van. Can you handle getting Brennan and Emma out?"

"No problem. I'll take Brennan down and then come back up for Emma."

Adam nodded and then rushed out of the apartment with Shalimar.

He got her into the van and laid her down in the back. After pulling her shirt up a bit away from the wound, he pulled out a small computer from his pocket and punched some buttons. He scanned it over her wound and then checked the results of the scan. Then he attached two thin, colored cables to the side of it. On the opposite ends he attached syringes that contained a greenish liquid. He slid one needle into a vein in her arm and the other just above the wound. Punching more buttons, the syringes expensed the proper dosage into Shalimar's body.

Adam stroked her hair as he looked over her body. So much blood. Her hands and arms were covered with dried blood from where she had been hugging her wound. Her face was battered and bruised. "Who did this to you?" he whispered as he bent down and kissed her on the forehead.

Jesse got Brennan into the van. "I'll take Emma back in Brennan's car. You go on ahead and take care of them."

Adam nodded and climbed into the driver's seat and peeled away.

Jesse went back inside and picked Emma up, slinging her over his shoulder. He got her out to the car and buckled her up in the passenger seat. Her head slumped forward as she remained unconscious.

Adam rushed Shalimar and Brennan into the medical room. After analyzing their vitals, he determined that Shalimar needed the most immediate attention. 

He got Brennan stabilized and returned his full attention to Shalimar who was lying on a steel table, her blood dripping onto the floor as it seeped out of the bandage he had applied in the van.

"Hang in there with me, Shalimar," Adam said to her as he inserted another needle into her arm. Carefully, he removed the blood stained bandage from her wound, holding his breath as he did so.

He looked upwards as a television-like machine came down. He punched some keys on it's keypad and the screen turned so it was flat and facing down towards Shalimar. Adam backed away as the machine cast a bright light around Shalimar's wound. The light soon dimmed and went out and Shalimar's wound was healed, a slight scar remained.

Adam sent the machine back up towards the ceiling and went back to her side. "You still with me?" He held her hand, giving it a slight squeeze. "Come on. Tell me you can hear me. Squeeze my hand." His hand was shaking as he waited for her to respond, but she didn't. He kissed the back of her hand and placed it gently by her side.

Satisfied that she was now out of danger, he dashed over to Brennan. He injected him with different medications and completed a scan of his body. Little by little Brennan's condition began to improve as the medications went to work on his system. Adam smiled and patted him on his leg.

Jesse entered the room with Emma slung over his shoulder. Adam helped him put her onto a table. "So what the hell happened?"

"First of all, I'd tie her down or something before she wakes up," Jesse said with concern on his face.

"What are you talking about?"

Jesse looked at Brennan and then at Shalimar, "Emma's the one that did this to them. I was almost next but I was able to stop her."

Adam didn't know what to say. He knew Jesse would never lie about something like that so it had to be true, no matter how much he didn't want to believe it. "SHE did this?"

Jesse nodded.

Adam tied Emma down and began to examine her while Jesse went over to Shalimar, taking her hand into his. "Hey, Shal. You okay? Thanks for not quitting on me." He saw that the wound was gone but the blood still remained. 

Adam did a scan on Emma and the scanner began to beep. "I think I've got something," Adam exclaimed. "Behind her ear." Adam moved her head to get a good look and found a small, black disc by her ear. Grabbing a pair of tweezers, he yanked it off of her. In doing so, her eyes bolted open and she gasped as if being awakened from a nightmare.

"Emma? Do you know where you are?" Adam asked her.

Emma looked around and then at Adam. "Yeah. I'm in the medical area. Why am I in the medical area? What happened to me? Why am I tied down?" She began to tug on the ties in hopes of getting free.

"It's okay, calm down. We just need to keep you still until we figure some things out." Adam did his best to get her to relax.

Emma turned her head and saw Shalimar lying on a table next to her. Then she saw all of the blood. "Oh my God, Shalimar! Shalimar!" She turned back to Adam, "What happened to her? You have to help her, she's bleeding!"

Jesse came over to help Adam calm her down. "She's going to be okay, Adam is helping her."

She began to cry.

Adam analyzed the disc and realized what it was. Taking a laser, he destroyed it.

"What was that thing?" Jesse asked.

"Eckhart got inside Emma's head. Like a puppeteer, he controlled everything she did." Adam's anger was evident on his face.

He walked back over to Shalimar to check on her and he felt her grab his hand. Looking down he saw that she was just waking up.

"Adam," she said softly.

"Shhh. Don't do a lot of talking. Save your strength."

Jesse came over to her as well, smiling down at her. "It's about time you woke up," he joked.

She smiled at him as she tried to keep her eyes open. "Wh-what happened?" she said as her hand went to her injured side.

"You got hurt," Adam said. "You were stabbed."

Shalimar groaned as she shifted a little, "No wonder why I'm sore."

"Your spleen was punctured. You lost a lot of blood. You need to rest for a few days to build up your strength." Adam stroked her cheek and noted the bruise around her eye. "Ouch, you've got a nice shiner."

Shalimar smiled. "Great. Battle scars are so cool," she said sarcastically.

"Shalimar?" a weak voice said.

Shalimar looked to her side and saw Brennan. "Brennan!" She tried to get up but the pain in her side sent her back down.

"Ugh uh, no moving around," Adam said sternly.

She grimaced as the throbbing pain dulled down to an annoying ache. "You okay, Brennan?"

"I'll be fine," he said weakly. "What about you?"

"It's gonna take more than a little stab wound to slow me down."

"Would somebody tell me what's going on around here," Emma blurted out.

Shalimar quickly turned her head and saw Emma. "Adam! Why is she here? She's working for Eckhart!" Shalimar held onto her side as the pain kicked up again.

"It's okay, I got the disc out. She's back to her old self again."

"Old self?" Emma said. "What is going on!"

Adam untied her arms and legs. "You were implanted with some sort of mind controlling device. One of Eckhart's devices. He took over your mind and turned you against the team."

Emma gasped at the realization that she had inflicted the injuries on Shalimar and Brennan. "There has to be some mistake," she said as she covered her mouth.

"I'm afraid not," Adam said.

She slowly went over to Shalimar and extended her hand. "Shalimar, I'm so sorry."

Shalimar's body tightened as she came closer. 

Emma began to cry again. "I don't know how you can forgive me. I don't even know if I can forgive myself." She touched Shalimar's arm and felt Shalimar ease up.

"It's not your fault. It wasn't you."

Emma went over to Brennan and took his hand. "I'm sorry Brennan." 

Brennan smiled at her, "Like Shalimar said, it's not your fault."

Adam put his arm around Jesse and Emma, "Let's let them get some rest, shall we?" 

Jesse and Emma left the room while Adam got Brennan and Shalimar as comfortable as possible. "I'll come back in a half hour to check on you. Later tonight I'll move you to your rooms."

As Adam left the room, Brennan reached out for Shalimar's hand. Shalimar reached out for his and squeezed it tightly.

THE END


End file.
